Quotes of the day

posted at 10:41 pm on December 11, 2013 by Allahpundit

The rift between House Republican leaders and outside conservative organizations broke into the open Wednesday as Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) rebuked groups that had preemptively denounced a budget deal…

The Speaker delivered a similar message to Republicans inside the party meeting, when, according to Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.), he urged lawmakers not to be pressured by outside activists.

“The Speaker was very clear: There is only person who controls the voting cards of the member of Congress, and that is the member of Congress,” Womack said…

In publically denouncing the activist groups, Boehner joins senior Senate Republicans who have decried their influence and their motives in mounting primary challenges against incumbents.

***

Then Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) upped the ante.

The chairman of the RSC, the bastion of the right-wing strategy on Capitol Hill, fired its long-time executive director Paul Teller for leaking member-level conversations to the outside groups, according to a senior Republican aide…

If there was any staffer on Capitol Hill that was nearly as powerful as a member of Congress, it was Teller. He has been involved in conservative strategy for more than a decade, helping drag legislative debates to the right. But he often chafed on Republican leadership, who saw him as causing intra-party drama…

“The fact they are making an example of Paul is clearly a message to staffers and other members that they will take a pound of flesh if they go against them on this sellout budget deal,” said one Senate Republican aide with close ties to the tea party. “It’s disgraceful. This is clearly Paul Ryan and John Boehner cracking down on dissent in the House. It shows the hostility the establishment has to tea party-minded staffers.”

***

Outside right-leaning groups are firing back at Speaker John Boehner after he attacked their intentions and questioned their commitment to conservative principles on Wednesday.

“Speaker Boehner’s real problem here isn’t with conservative groups like FreedomWorks, it’s with millions of individual Americans who vote Republican because they were told the GOP was the party of small government and fiscal responsibility,” Matt Kibbe, the president of FreedomWorks, said in a statement.

Kibbe went on: “Once again Republicans, led by John Boehner, are working with Democrats to increase spending yet again on the taxpayers’ tab while promising ‘savings’ down the road. We know how this movie ends. How can leadership credibly promise spending cuts later, after agreeing to a plan that rolls back the sequester savings promised two debt increases ago? There’s a predictable pattern here.”

***

At a Wednesday forum put on by the Heritage Foundation, eight conservative members of Boehner’s conference took turns explaining why the Democrats had crushed them. “Until today, I thought Republicans were going to hold the line on the sequester,” said Idaho Rep. Raul Labrador. “Democrats realized they were right all along, that we were never going to hold the line.”

“Look, we got beat,” said South Carolina Rep. Mick Mulvaney. “We don’t have the votes. Our opening position was the law [of sequestration caps]. Their opening position is to break the law. When those are the two starting positions, the compromise will be to break the law.”

Amazing how much can change in a month. Congressman Paul Ryan and Senator Patty Murray have decided to give up the last thing the GOP was fighting for — spending restraint. “Don’t worry,” Paul Ryan says with his boyish charm designed to induce sweats and heart palpitations among conservatives, “it’s only a little less restrained.”…

So it raises spending, it raises taxes … errr … “user fees”, and it funds Obamacare. It’s the budgetary equivalent of being only a little big pregnant.

But then that’s the problem with Paul Ryan. In his run of the mill voting record, there is no question Paul Ryan is a conservative. It’s just he sees fit to lose his conservative bona fides when high profile votes are on the line. So his friends can cast aspersions on those who suggest he might not be what he appears while he goes on to prove he is not what he appears to be in these big votes.

***

[I]n abandoning his years-long quest to re-imagine American society and settling for a bipartisan deal, the Wisconsin Republican took the first steps to emerge as a House power center — a Republican willing to take baby steps to curb the nation’s trillions in debt, normalize the budget process and protect a Pentagon pilloried by cuts…

“As a conservative, I deal with the situation as it exists,” Ryan said. “I deal with the way things are, not necessarily the way things I want them to be. I’ve passed three budgets in a row that reflect my priorities and my principles and everything I wanted to accomplish. We’re in divided government. I realize I’m not going to get that. So I’m not going to go a mile in the direction I wanted to go to, but I will take a few steps in the right direction. This agreement takes us in the right direction, from my perspective, for the very reasons I laid out before.”

***

PM: Did you ever pressure him to, you know, get these Tea Party guys to settle down, get in line?

[Steve LaTourette]: I sat on Team Boehner. We would have lunch once a month in [room] H-230, and these would be the people that helped elect him, majority or minority leader. I mean, there were people who were really vocal about the fact that you got to do something to these guys. … [Michigan Rep.] Freddy Upton was really upset, which is—you know, Freddy’s a very mild man. … The general consensus was you’ve got to make an example of somebody. You’ve got to find somebody that doesn’t have a lot of friends so it doesn’t have a big backlash, and you got to do something mean to him.

And Boehner said no. I mean, his idea—he said, well, maybe I won’t let them preside [the ceremonial position of sitting in the chairman’s rostrum in the House]. People were saying, “What kind of punishment is that?” Or maybe, you know, “When some of these appointments come up, such as the U.N. thing or whatever, I won’t appoint them.” And everybody sort of left the meeting saying, “He’s just not of the mind to go after these people and punish them, so they’re going to be emboldened.”…

PM: Eric Cantor’s desire to become speaker seems to have cooled a bit. He seems to be getting along better with Boehner. Why?

SL: I think Eric’s come to the realization that these guys [the Tea Party Republicans who viewed Cantor as their early leader], it’s like having a pet alligator. You know, once you turn your back, they’re going to eat you.

Breaking on Hot Air

Blowback

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Had a comment earlier that did not appear. I guess saying that the establishment GOP in 2010 would be ‘Pelosi’s female canines’ without the tea party is unacceptable on Hotair. I’ll filter myself next time.

Woke up this morning, more dead than alive
Sentenced to madness, from nine until five
The weather was lousy, I’m gonna be late
But don’t give a sh!t, my mind is filled up with hate
My breakfast is freezing, the milk has gone off
I feel like telling the world to f*ck off
I ain’t got no money, I’m late for the train
And if I don’t get out of here, it’s gonna drive me insane
Why does nothing ever turn out right?

Life’s a b!tch
When it’s got you by the balls
Life’s a b!tch
When you feel the squeeze

My brand new motor’s almost made out of rust
And my bank account has almost bit the dust
My baby’s screaming that she needs new clothes
She had a hundred dollars but she [snorted it] up her nose
Hey why don’t you shut your mouth?

The rent collector’s knocking hell out the door
The Sunday dinner’s plastered over the floor
I can’t understand what the hell have I done
I just got to try and get my hands on a gun
Why does nothing ever turn out, just the way it oughta turn out
Anyway you look, there ain’t no doubt

this has probably been posted, but Jim Hoff aka Gateway Pundit is losing his insurance

This week I found out I am going to lose my insurance. The company that carried me is leaving the Missouri market. I will have to find something else.

I am one of the millions who will be looking for new insurance. God willing, I will be able to keep my doctors at St. Louis University. I trust them. They saved my life. Please pray for me and the millions of working Americans who are going through this same ordeal.

Why is our government doing this to us?

he’s been very sick…and no doubt the leftists are snickering about cracking a few eggs. Barry would have a quick answer for him (at least in private)..something about haves and have nots…and something about privilege…and maybe even something about Winning

and of course Boehner isn’t there to challenge barry having decided that barry is right…it is those conservatives who are the problem.

i frankly think it is rather odd…the Boehner thing. Purges have happened before..the Dem ‘purged’ the communists a long time ago, NR purged JBS a long time ago. But really are conservatives really whacked out? No i think not.

the problem is that the left seems to have won the war…and therefore get the spoils. And John has to get on the right side. I kinda wish he’d say that straight up…we lost guys. Barry and the left have won, and will dominate this country for some time to come.

let us take a tactical retreat…huddle…and come out later and whip their a**

A, stands for Americans, who scorn to be slaves;
B, for Boston, where fortitude their freedom saves;
C, stands for Congress, which, though loyal, will be free;
D, stands for defence, ‘gainst force and tyranny.
Stand firmly, A and Z,
We swear for ever to be free!
E, stands for evils, which a civil war must bring;
F, stands for fate, dreadful to both people and king;
G, stands for George, may God give him wisdom and
grace;
H, stands for hypocrite, who wears a double face.

J, stands for justice, which traitors in power defy,
K, stands for king, who should to such the axe apply;
L, stands for London, to its country ever true,
M, stands for Mansfield, who hath another view.

N, stands for North, who to the House the mandate brings,
O, stands for oaths, binding on subjects not on kings:
P, stands for people, who their freedom should defend,
Q, stands for quere, when will England’s troubles end ?

R, stands for rebels, not at Boston but at home,
S, stands for Stuart, sent by Whigs abroad to roam,
T, stands for Tories, who may try to bring them back,
V, stands for villains, who have well deserved the rack.

W, stands for Wilkes, who us from warrants saved,
Y, for York, the New, half corrupted, half enslaved,
Z, stands for Zero, but means the Tory minions,
Who threatens us with fire and sword, to bias our opinions,

El Rushbo talked about this today..My heart just breaks for Mr. Hoffa and the others who are being affected by Obiecare..Let’s face it..We all are only a second away from being affected by this “train wreck” called Obiecare..Folks are starting to pay attention in a big way..:)

kcewa, I don’t really know about this budget agreement, and I know that around here if you suggested it was a good idea, a commenter is likely to be subjected to bitter ridicule. I know that “crosspatch” was earlier. I don’t know whether we might me heading like lemmings into a disaster by not coming to budget agreement and thus getting into another shutdown situation. Is that what would happen? Also, maybe Boehner is just going to force a vote and win with mostly Democratic support, but with everyone just totally pissed off, that won’t be good. Anyway, I’m curious if you have any thoughts on the following comment by crosspatch on another site, on whether it makes, or doesn’t:

crosspatch:

In a strategic sense, I think this deal is actually pretty good. First, “the sequester” was meant to be punitive in order to coerce an agreement, it was not meant to be how we normally operate. As time went on, it took increasing hunks of cash out of the military’s hide while not addressing where the real spending was going.

What this agreement does is takes off the sequester while actually taking money out of the entitlement side. For example, it forces from now on, all new federal employees to kick in more for their own pensions. So as federal employees turn over, the savings from this do grow over current budget policy. But there is a more important reason and it is political. This agreement gives the Democrats absolutely nothing to demonize the Republicans over while the Democrats are standing there with the rotting carcass of the Obamacare albatross around their necks. The Democrats wanted to replay the October scenario where the Republicans would shut the government down, the Democrats would demonize them in the press, and possibly maintain the Senate. What is really important for the US right now is that the Democrats not maintain the Senate in 2014. In fact, it is my opinion that the Democrats need to be purged all the way down to local dog catcher. Independents, libertarians, and Republicans need to come together in 11 months time and wipe the Democrats out of all levels of government; federal, state, and local.

This is not a great agreement. Tactically it keeps things from getting any worse until the Democrats can be ejected from the Senate and some real progress can be made. Strategically, I think this agreement is the best that can be hoped for and sets the stage for ejecting the Dems from Congress.

kcewa, I don’t really know about this budget agreement, and I know that around here if you suggested it was a good idea, a commenter is likely to be subjected to bitter ridicule. I know that “crosspatch” was earlier.

anotherJoe on December 12, 2013 at 2:14 AM

crosspatch wasn’t ridiculed for his ideas, but because he came off as a smug jackass. Who’s going to take someone like that seriously?

El Rushbo talked about this today..My heart just breaks for Mr. Jim Hoff and the others who are being affected by Obiecare..Let’s face it..We all are only a second away from being affected by this “train wreck” called Obiecare..Folks are starting to pay attention in a big way..:)

Good point, I kind of agree with you he seemed a big smug or whatever. To just say flatly that Boehner is right to call other conservatives “ridiculous” was a bit much. I mean, Boehner needed to at least acknowledge the legitimate gripes of conservatives, and perhaps say that this “is the best we can do.” But Boehner didn’t do that.

I just saw the David Stockman video that Drudge linked to. I got to say that what Stockman says seems to make sense. And probably it’s fine to cut the military more, though maybe Stockman has never been a big proponent of military spending to begin with. But are we able to get a different deal, or stick with things as they are, and avoid a shutdown? Or is a shutdown not the end of the world?? Or is Boehner just going to ram the Ryan deal through with Dem support? But also, maybe conceivably what Stockman says makes sense, but the reality of the situation could be that it would be hard to do anything else without having a shutdown type situation that would imperil Republicans, or at least make it harder for us to capitalize on the Obamacare woes. I don’t know, but it would be really great to be able to push a deal that Republicans were unified behind.

I think we should stop pretending that the progressives and crony politicians are interested in real compromise. The House republicans have no real power – that was proven when Obama refused to compromise and allowed the government to shutdown and succeeded. They will pretend to compromise to appear reasonable to independent voters. That’s what this is. And the republicans are going along for the same reason – which is all they can do.

The core supporters of the progressive wing of the democratic party are:

1. People who revel in the “freedom” that infanticide gives them and are deathly afraid that “right” will be taken away.
2. Rent seeking public employee unions and corporations that can’t survive (literally, they will die) if government spending is cut.

People like to talk about LIV’s but the progressive voters and funders are very well informed and know exactly where their interests lie.

Our hope is that Obamacare will put the republicans in power without them compromising with the same groups. Really what we need is a new influx of freedom loving people. But I know how people on this site feel about immigration so I won’t say that :).

Thanks for your reply. Seems like we should let the sequester happen. But the Dems are not going to allow that, they will shut down the govt to get the sequester ended, and blame us. And what about recruiting an influx of Russians? After decades of Stalin et al they must be pretty freedom loving, lol.

The Mid-Term Elections of 2014 are on their way to looking like the opening Battle Scenes in the movie “Gladiator” with Russell Crowe. And guess what, Speaker Boehner? You ain’t Maximus and your fellow Vichy Republicans aren’t the victorious Roman Legionnaires.

Kibbe went on: “Once again Republicans, led by John Boehner, are working with Democrats to increase spending yet again on the taxpayers’ tab while promising ‘savings’ down the road. We know how this movie ends. How can leadership credibly promise spending cuts later, after agreeing to a plan that rolls back the sequester savings promised two debt increases ago? There’s a predictable pattern here.”

I’m still waiting for the $2.00 spending cut for each $1.00 in new taxes from when Reagan was in office.

Boehner and the DC republicans are just happy that Obama and Reid are pretending this is a compromise. That way they get to pose as being relevant. In reality the dem’s have all the power and only pretend to compromise to appeal to independent voters.

Boehner and the DC republicans are just happy that Obama and Reid are pretending this is a compromise. That way they get to pose as being relevant. In reality the dem’s have all the power and only pretend to compromise to appeal to independent voters.

kcewa on December 12, 2013 at 7:09 AM

Just a reminder. This was the battle the GOP was going to fight when Ed was penning stupid platitudes about living to fight another day when the Dems won on the shutdown. Now, we’re at that point and the filthy rat-faced bastards are saying again. That is, that we need to give the Dems every damn thing they want now and keep our eyes on winning the Senate in 2014….. Because then, boy oh boy!, then the GOP will start in on a conservative agenda.

With the reality is that if the GOP wins in 2014 they will still cave to the left in the spirit of being bipartisan. Boehner needs to go.

Just a reminder. This was the battle the GOP was going to fight when Ed was penning stupid platitudes about living to fight another day when the Dems won on the shutdown.
Happy Nomad on December 12, 2013 at 7:15 AM

I think they said they wanted to fight on tying an increase in the debt ceiling to entitlement reform. Not that they will.

Good point, I kind of agree with you he seemed a big smug or whatever. To just say flatly that Boehner is right to call other conservatives “ridiculous” was a bit much. I mean, Boehner needed to at least acknowledge the legitimate gripes of conservatives, and perhaps say that this “is the best we can do.” But Boehner didn’t do that.

I just saw the David Stockman video that Drudge linked to. I got to say that what Stockman says seems to make sense. And probably it’s fine to cut the military more, though maybe Stockman has never been a big proponent of military spending to begin with. But are we able to get a different deal, or stick with things as they are, and avoid a shutdown? Or is a shutdown not the end of the world?? Or is Boehner just going to ram the Ryan deal through with Dem support? But also, maybe conceivably what Stockman says makes sense, but the reality of the situation could be that it would be hard to do anything else without having a shutdown type situation that would imperil Republicans, or at least make it harder for us to capitalize on the Obamacare woes. I don’t know, but it would be really great to be able to push a deal that Republicans were unified behind.

anotherJoe on December 12, 2013 at 3:02 AM

I agree, but the GOP is adrift at sea, without a good captain at the helm…